Manning refused to be more specific, choosing instead to use NHL terminology to describe his injury. “Lower body, [I] feel like the injury report is very revealing to the opponent as well as the folks in Vegas, so I guess somewhere in that lower body.”

“Lower body” appears to be code for “ankles.” Manning had hurt his ankle initially in the game against Jacksonville, then aggravated it when he took a beating the Broncos’ loss to the Colts in his Indianapolis homecoming. On Sunday, he showed a slight limp before the game, then went out and had his typical performance: 25-of-36 completions for 330 yards and four touchdowns. He was hit by Corey Liuget after he released the ball on a 7-yard completion to Demaryius Thomas for a first down in the waning minutes of the game. Manning stayed down for a few minutes and was attended by trainers. He also flexed his right knee repeatedly and it is unclear whether that is hurt as well.

“I’m pretty sore,” Manning, who is 37, said after the game. “They got me twice in that lower area. I felt better coming into the game after the bye week [last week], but I’m pretty sore.”

The Broncos, 8-1, have a big AFC West game Sunday at home against the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs, who lead the league in QB sacks. Against that sobering backdrop is the possibility that Manning won’t be healthy the rest of the season.

“I hope not, I’d like to be able to shake it,” he said.

Corey Liuget is about to deliver a blow to Peyton Manning. (Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images)

As for Liuget, he may hear from the league, if it determines that the blow violated the Brady Rule, which protects quarterbacks from blows around the knees.

“I was trying to get to him because I knew how critical it could be to us as a defense to get to him,” he said. “I was just working it and trying to be the guy. I’m not sure how I caught him, but I hope he is okay. It’s not anything that is going to stop him from being Peyton Manning.”

After spending most of her career in traditional print sports journalism, Cindy began blogging and tweeting, first as NFL/Redskins editor, and, since August 2010, at The Early Lead. She also is the social media editor for Sports.

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